Spring motor



Oct."6, 1942. J. K. KAHQOKANO I 2,297,834

SPRING MOTOR Filed March 20, 1941 7 2 Sheets-Sheet l v gwm John 11' ahodiiqna Oct. 6, 1942. J. K. KAHOOKANO 9 SPRING MOTOR I Filed March 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- 3 Joh [fair 0/1471 Patented Oct. 6, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPRING MOTOR John Kalua 'Kahookano, La Salle, Ill. Application March 20, 1941, Serial No. 384,398

4 Claims.

This invention relates to .a novel construction of spring motor for rotating a driving shaft through a novel gear arrangement.

More particularly, it is an aim of the invention to provide a spring motor constructed and arranged whereby the power exerted by the spring may be employed for partially rewinding the spring.

Still a further aim of the invention is to provide a spring motor including a crown gear of large diameter, driven by a spring and enmeshed with a pinion of small diameter, keyed to the driving shaft for driving said driving shaft at an increased ratio relatively to the speed of rotation of the crown gear.

Still another aim of the invention is to provide novel clutch means, associated with the driving shaft for engaging it with or disengaging it from a rewinding shaft of the spring motor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of the spring motor,

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same,

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along the plane of the line 33 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 55 of Figure 2,

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 6-5 of Figure 1, and

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line l'! of Figure 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, 50 designates generally a housing of a spring motor including a lower section II and an upper section i2. The sections II and I2 are provided with abutting flanges It for receiving fastenings It for detachably connecting the sections. The housing II}, as best seen in Figures 3 and 5, is provided with a substantially cylindrical hollow interior [5. As seen in Figure 4, the bottom of the housing II] is provided with a cen trally disposed raised portion l6 having an upwardly opening recess I! forming a journal or 55 bearing for the lower end of a shaft I 8 which projects upwardly therefrom to a point below the level of the upper portion of the lower section H.

A spring drum I9 is turnably mounted on the shaft 18 and is supported by the portion I 6. which forms a bearing for the drum IS. A spiral spring 20 is disposed in the drum l9 and is fastened at its inner end in any suitable manner to the shaft l8, and at its outer end, in any suitable manner, to the inner side of the periphery of the drum l9. As best seen in Figure 3, the spring 20 is coiled in a counterclockwise direction from its inner to its outer end.

A crown gear 2| is disposed in the lower portion of the housing I0 and is keyed to the drum I9 and is supported by an annular anti-friction ball bearing means 22, as best seen in Figure 4, which rests on the bottom of the housing It and which permits the crown gear 2| to revolve freely within the housing.

A driving shaft 23 extends horizontally through the housing l0 and is journaled in anti-friction bearings 24 which are mounted in the flanges l3 and in diametrically opposed relationship to one another. A beveled pinion 25 is keyed to the shaft 23, within the housing l0, and meshes with the beveled teeth 26 of the crown gear 2|.

A second shaft 2'! extends horizontally through the housing I!) and is journaled in anti-friction bearings 28 which are disposed in the flanges [3. The shafts 23 and 2'! are disposed at substantially the same level and are substantially parallel and are arranged above the level of the uppermost portion of the crown gear 2| and the shaft l8. A worm 29 is keyed to the shaft 21 and is disposed in the housing [0 to mesh with a worm wheel 30 which is keyed to the upper end of the shaft l8 and which is disposed above the drum IS.

The shaft 21 is provided with a ratchet wheel 3|, which is keyed thereto, exteriorly of the housing I 0. The housing I0 is provided with an extension 32 on which is pivotally mounted a dog 33, the free end of which is urged by a spring 34 into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 3|, which teeth are arranged so that the shaft 21 can turn in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 35, in Figure 5, and the dog will retract the spring 34 to permit the free end of the dog to ride over the teeth. However, the dog 38 will engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 3| to prevent the shaft 27 from being turned in the opposite or a counterclockwise direction, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent.

As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, the housing section I2 is provided with a raised portion 36 49 is swung relatively to the bearings 33.

through which the shafts 2'! and 23 extend and on the upper side of which is mounted a guideway 31 having upwardly projecting bearing members 33 in which is journaled a pin 39 to which is connected a lever 44). Lever All, at its pivoted end, is provided with a gear segment Al the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of a rack bar 42, which is slidably mounted in the guide 31, as best seen in Figure 6 and Figure 7. The raised portion 3.5 is provided with a slot it, disposed beneath the rack bar 42 and through which depends an arm 34 which is secured to the rack bar 42 and which is provided with a forked lower end 45. The arm M is adapted to slide in the slot 45 when the rack bar 42 is moved relatively to the guide 31 by a swinging move ment of the lever 48.

A gear 56 is slidably keyed to the shaft 2% by means of a key ll and is provided on one side thereof with a grooved collar 48. The forked end 55 of the arm it engages the groove of the collar 58 to provide means for sliding the gear 46 relatively to the shaft 23 when the lever A gear 49, as best seen in Figure 5, is keyed to the shaft 21 and is disposed to be enmeshed with the gear 48 when the lever 48 is in the position, as seen in Figure 4.

It will thus be seen that the parts 55 to 49, inclusive, provide clutch means for connecting the shaft 23 to or for disconnecting it from the shaft 21.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the shaft 2! can be turned in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 35, for turning the shaft it in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig-' ure 3, to wind the spring 2&3. The shaft 2] will be held, as previously explained, from turning in a counterclockwise direction to thereby prevent the shaft it from being turned in a counterclockwise direction to unwind the spring 23 from its inner end. As the spring 2i? is thus anchored against being unwound from its inner end, the force exerted thereby will cause it to unwind from its outer end thereby turning the drum is and the crown gear 2| in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figures 3 and 5. The shaft 28 through the connection of the pinion 25 with the crown gear 2| will be turned thereby in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 58, in Figure 5, and at a substantially greater speed than the speed of rotation of the crown gear 2! due to the relative sizes of the crown gear and the pinion 25. The driving shaft 23 may be employed for any suitable purpose to transmit power as for example through a belt drive, not shown, and may be provided with a belt pulley for this purpose. However, it is to be understood, that the invention may be utilized for any suitable purpose requiring power which can be exerted by a rotating shaft. The clutch means, previously described, is usually in an inoperative position with the lever 4i] swung to the left of its position, as seen in Figure 4, for moving the gear 45 to the right and out of engagement with the gear 49. Should the power exerted by the spring be more than is required for the machine to be driven by the shaft 23, the lever ii: can be returned to its position, as seen in Figure 4, to cause the gear it to mesh with the gear 49 so that the shaft 23, being turned in a counterclockwise direction will turn the shaft 27 in the opposite or a clockwise direction to thereby partially rewind the spring 20 so that a portion of the energy exerted by the spring 20 will be exerted for partially rewinding it to thus provide a brake on the spring motor which will utilize at least a portion of the energy which would otherwise be wasted. Obviously, any suitable means such as a crank, not shown, may be employed for turning the shaft 21 for rewinding the spring 20.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously .be resorted to as only a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A spring motor comprising a housing, a perpendicular shaft journaled in the lower portion of said housing, a spring drum through which said perpendicular shaft extends and in which it is loosely disposed, a spiral spring disposed in said spring drum and having its outer end secured to the periphery of the drum and its inner end secured to the perpendicular shaft, a beveled crown gear keyed to said periphery and extending therearound and disposed in said housing, a horizontally disposed shaft extending through said housing, above the crown gear, and journaled therein, and a beveled pinion keyed to said horizontal shaft and enmeshed with the crown gear for rotating the horizontal shaft when the crown gear is turned by the unwinding of the spiral spring.

2. A device as in claim 1, comprising a rewinding shaft extending through said housing and disposed horizontally therein and above the crown gear, a worm keyed to said rewinding shaft, and a worm wheel keyed to the upper end of the perpendicular shaft and enmeshed with said worm for turning the perpendicular shaft relatively to the spring drum to rewind the spring from its inner end, when said rewinding shaft is turned in one direction.

3. A device as in claim 1, comprising a rewinding shaft extending through said housing and disposed horizontally therein and above the crown gear, a worm keyed to said rewinding shaft, a worm wheel keyed to the upper end of the perpendicular shaft and enmeshed with said worm for turning the perpendicular shaft to rewind the spring, when said rewinding shaft is turned in one direction, a gear keyed to the rewinding shaft, a gear slidably keyed to said horizontal shaft, and means for moving said last mentioned gear into and out of mesh with said first mentioned gear whereby when said last mentioned gears are enmeshed the spring will be partially rewound by the power exerted thereby on said horizontal shaft.

4. A spring motor comprising a drum, a shaft journaled therein, a spiral spring disposed in said drum and having its inner end secured to the shaft and. its outer end secured to the drum, a crown gear keyed to the drum, a driven pinion keyed to said driven shaft and enniesi with the crown gear, a rewinding shaft, we keyed to the rewinding shaft, a worm wheel keyed to said first mentioned shaft and enmeshed with said worm, a gear keyed to th rewinding shaft, a gear slidably keyed to the Jen shaft, and means for moving said last mentioned gear into and out of mesh with the gear of rewinding shaft.

JOHN KALUA KAHOOKANG. 

